Former DU goalie Adam Berkhoel, who led the Pios to the 2004 NCAA championship, was working outside the Murray A. Armstrong Hockey Complex on Wednesday as a player’s rep for Vaughn, the popular goalie equipment manufacturer. I took this picture of Berkheol between freshman goalie Sam Brittain (left) and sophomore goalie Adam Murray. Berkhoel hung up the skates in April after finishing the season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League. He played nine games in the NHL, going 2-4-1 for the Atlanta Thrashers in 2005-06. I’ll never forget when he beat the New Jersey Devils that season, and Martin Brodeur said afterward: “Their little goalie played well.”

That little goalie was named 2004 USA Hockey college player of the year after a surreal postseason. Following CC’s shocking first-round WCHA playoff sweep over DU at Magness Arena, Berkhoel and the Pios beat Miami 3-2 and North Dakota 1-0 at the West Regional in Colorado Springs, then 5-3 and 1-0 over Minnesota-Duluth and Maine, respectively, at the Frozen Four in Boston. What a trip.

“It was time to move on,” Berkhoel, 29, said of his professional hockey retirement. “I played pro six years, and was able to play in the NHL. It was time. This job came about, and this is a way to stay involved, a way to stay in the game.”

Berkhoel said he used Vaughn equipment in the pros, working with Scott Hughes, and Hughes was the only college/pro U.S. rep with the company. “And my wife is from Michigan, and the (Vaughn) factory is literally 10 minutes down the road. The last three summers, I’ve gone to the factory and done a step-by-step process to inspect all my gear, and really got a first-hand look at what goes on, and I really respect the quality of Vaughn. When (Hughes) said a job was available, it just worked out. My wife wanted to be close to family.”

The Berkhoels live in Romeo, just north of Detroit, and the factory is in Oxford. “We want to be back in Denver; it’s our first choice,” Berkhoel said.

Freshman Beau Bennett didn’t participate in the orange-lemon shootout at today’s DU practice and I didn’t see him afterward, but the winger will travel with the team to Mankato, Minn., Thursday morning and be available for this weekend’s series against Minnesota State. Bennett, who has missed the past five games, is still nursing a knee injury. He skated at the beginning of practice.

In other news:

— Goalies Sam Brittain and Adam Murray will trade starts against the Mavericks, assistant coach Derek Lalonde told me. Brittain (10-4-4, 2.06, .926) will start Friday, and Murray (3-1, 4.23, .849) will go Saturday. The sophomore has opened the past two series, with the freshman serving as the closer. It’s flip-flopped now.

— Sophomore wing Chris Knowlton, who rolled his ankle in practice this week, will not travel. Senior defensemen/forwards Jon Cook and Joey Brehm will travel and both likely play forward on Friday if Bennett doesn’t play.

— Stud freshman wing Jason Zucker got the lemon today, losing in the final to sophomore D-man Paul Phillips. Junior sniper Luke Salazar also was in jeopardy of losing the shootout game that always concludes the last practice at home before a game. We’ll have a nice spread on Zucker and DU/U.S. World Junior linemate Drew Shore in Friday’s paper.

— Phillips said this about DU moving back to a traditional six-man defensive corps on the heels of William Wrenn’s departure to major junior last week: “It’s always tough to see a teammate go, especially a sophomore and a close friend like William, but it was best for everyone. It really was . . . It’s a little bit easier because you get to practice with a partner all week, and really get to learn how he plays and his tendencies, and you can feed off that.”

— DU coach George Gwozdecky is at an NCAA convention today and will meet the team in Mankato on Thursday.

The rivals.com final 2010 rankings are out and 3-9 Colorado State checked in a 108th out of 120 teams.

A few more wins are on the schedule for 2011. Besides Northern Colorado, CSU’s slate includes No. 100 Utah State, No. 106 Wyoming (sure to fall with Austyn Carta-Samuels’ flight from Laramie), No. 111 UNLV, No. 118 New Mexico and last place San Jose State.

On the flip side there No. 3 TCU (remember, this is according to rivals, not the official polls) and No. 6 Boise State.

Incidentally, Air Force weighed in at No. 26 and CU, under new management, was No. 77.

Denver East's Dominique Collier, left, reaches out as Eaglecrest's TreShawn Wilford tries to recover a loose ball during a game early this season. (David Zalubowski, Special to The Denver Post)

There was no way Dominique Collier was going to simply slip into high school unnoticed. He was too good a player for that to happen.

And not only did he not, but there was close to rock star-style buzz surrounding his arrival at Denver East as a freshman this year. As a talent, Collier is, in some ways, already said to be a more advanced player at his age, 15, than arguably the greatest prep player in Colorado history – former George Washington and current Denver Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups.

“I tell you, and I mean this genuinely,” Denver East coach Rudy Carey said of Collier. “Best I’ve seen in 20 years. And I’m talking about comparing him to Chauncey skill-wise and knowledge of the game. He’s got a higher basketball IQ.”

Jimmer Fredette is now a verb in the state of Utah, as in “to get Jimmered.” According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Utah certainly was “Jimmered” when BYU’s other-worldly senior guard incinerated the Utes with 47 points in a 104-79 mismatch.

Watching highlights on The Mtn. (which has renamed BYU “The Jimmer Show” or “Jimmer and the Pips” ) it’s difficult to comprehend Fredette has done this for three seasons and still no one has a clue on how to stop him.

Credit the Mtn. for total professionalism. BYU, in a classic cutting off one’s nose to spite the face act, is leaving next year for the WCC in basketball. Part of the football-driven departure was dissatisfaction with the Mountain West’s TV package.

The Mtn. put together a Fredette post-game highlight reel, including multiple angles of Fredette’s midcourt shot to beat the halftime buzzer. It’s hard to imagine ESPN having the time to do that.

Fredette enjoyed a 32-point first half for the senior.

It wasn’t a fluke. Fredette was coming off a 30.5 point average against UNLV and Air Force, earning ESPN national player of the week recognition.

If anyone wants to see one of the best pure shooters in the game, BYU makes its final trip to Colorado State Jan. 22 and to Air Force Feb. 9.

And if the NCAA bracket falls right, Fredette could be back in March when the Pepsi Center hosts the first weekend of the Tournament.